Tire chain



P. SCHOLTUS TIRE CHAIN April 8, 1930.

Filed March 19. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR v ATTORNEY April 8, 1930.

P. SCHOLTUS TIRE CHAIN Filed March 19, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,Peterfichdtz s;

. readily extricated.

Patented 8,1930 I V e r it f i 2 UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFlCE firmnenarn.7 I

Application filed March 19, 1928. Serial No. 262,670.. I I My presentinvention has reference to 1 Figure l'is an end view of the fastener forwhat I, will term'a mud chain for the wheels one of the tire chains. ofautomobiles or other vehicles. I Figure isa face view thereof.

My object is the provision of a simple and Figure 6is atop-plan viewthereof. 7 e, cheaply constructed device which may be The linksconstituting the chains of" the e; readily applied to a portion of anautomobile Improvement maybe square or twisted and or like tire, and asreadily removed therehavetheir ends welded together. The imfrom andwhich will increasethe traction t0 provement. includes side chains .1.Each of an extent as to extricate the wheel when these chains isofalength, in the showing of mired in a ground surface or when a wheelthe drawings approximately equaling the is caught. in de li it-ie mv glength between five, of the spokes ofan auto- In Carrying out ii ti it imy i mobile or like vehicle wheel 2; The side t ti h t ide udv h i .whihi is chalns are, of course, arranged against the made up of sidechains, cross or traction ld f the tire 3 for the wheel 2 and adja v 15chain and ti h i hi h hav t in of cent to the rim in which the tire isseated.v their links connected to the end links of th F r dlstinctionthe f y -t W l i in} side chains, and whose ends are designed toated'loy the numeral 4. be arranged around a' wheel tire and felly Theside; chains 1 have their end links conand fastened thereto by a novel-catch connected WhatIYViu r r Chains T Q struction. The tractionportions of the tire PP O 0f the tll'e chains, connected 1 01 11 9 chainand theend cross chains are of the slde chains afl r ch ns. 1 samelength and have a firm biting engagehe IS also connected to h links f hde ment with the tire. The central cross chain 8 0 her Cross ortraction-chains, For is of a slightly greater length but also hasdlstmctlon cross traction-chains next 25 e biti g nt ith th th whil thto the t1re chains will be, termed the endcross remaining cross chainsare of a greater M11 nd are lndlcated by the numeral'fi. length and'a'relooselyarran ged over the tire. T end S chalns are, Of a length equalingV so tha t they will curve or arch-themselves t m po s f h ir ains 5,hey when brought against aground surface and g made p f h e nzlcnumberof links. bite .thereinto a greater length than the" first The r l S chin 1s indicated for dis so named cross chains with the result that thetlnctloll y t n meral 7, and this cross 7 ground is contacted atdifferent points or an- Chain i Of a g t y greater lngth n he gls by thetraction chains and a, mired heel, 611d chains 6 and, Of course5 thetraction p01- u n th t ning th r of will b th b tions of the endchains5, the saidcentral I I I chainhavingone more linkthan the first men- F a11 d comprehensiveunderstandtioned chains. Between the central chain ireference i t b h d t th accompanyand the end chains there are pairs ofinter-. ingdmwings which form a part of thi mediate chalns 8,respectlvely. These chains plication and wherein a satisfactory embodf aa length P115111 the'chftins 7 and 40 iment of the improvement isillustrated. and the e n Portlons of t 131m chains In the drawings: 7 V5. In the showlng of the drawmgs, the trac- Figure 1 is a View of asufl'icient portion of fion portions of the Chains and h end anautomobile wheel -to illustrate the applii g g i fi h i f 45 cation ofmy improvement thereon. e m an e remammg V e chains 8 of twelve links.The r g 2 1S a P w' the lmprove' this arrangement will be preseiit ly diidla i m te' v r stood and appreciated; I I Flgul'e 3 a transverseSectlonal 'Vlew One ofeach of the tire chains has its link 7 through thetll'e and IY'Q ew look that is connected with the end links of the 50 od one n of h l p h Sidechains attached, preferably through the i thatone of the parallel arms of the U-shaped member or bail is of agreaterlength.th-anthe: other arm. The longer arm is indicated fordistinction by the numeral 14, and the outer corner thereof is rounded,as at 1'5. Als'ofor distinction theshorter arm is indicated by thenumeral 1 6. Passing through 'alining openingsthrough the arms l4and' 16there is the removable pivot 157 for the inner or barrel portion 18- of'a flat hook 19 The hook has its-outer straight element orbeakQO'arrangedparallelwith the barrel I8 andthe in ner wall provided'bythisportion or beak 20 a of the hook is beveled as disclosedby Fig ure 4of the drawings and-indicated by the numeral" 21 The hook andU-shapedmount orsupport therefor constitutes the fastening of the endsof the tire chains 5. The tire" chains 5 have their links extendedbeyond the second side. chain 1 and the outer links of these extensionsliaveeach attached thereto a U snap hookf22; When thedeviceistarrangedupon a tire and secured to the wheel, asi'llus?tratedinFigures I and13 of the drawings, the

hook 19 is first swung to the position indie cated by. the-dotted linesin Figure 4 so that one of the links of the tireichains 5 can bereceivled over the rounded corner of the" arm 14 andjwithin the bail 12;The hook is then;

swungtlotheposition illustrated in Figure 4 of the drawings, and byreference to this figure; and the dotted line position of the linkengaged by the hook it will be seen that the corners provided by thebeveled inner face of' the beak-of the hook will have biting engage mentwiththe link, and the tighter the pull ofthe link against the hookthemoreefieceven the same will engage with the link. Theswinging'of thelink on the pivot l'Z'will readily releasethe link.

Whentheimprovement is arranged on the v tirethetraction portions-of thetire-chains 5 the end cross chains 6' will be brought intotightfrictional engagement with the and the centralcross chain 7 ivill alsoengage with the tire but with less friction tha n that eXertedQby theend chains 6 and the tractionportions ofthe tire chains 5, while whatmay be termed the intermediatelinks 8 will be loosely disposed over thetire.

- Theresult is that when the wheel is caused te turn thecross ortraction chains of the im- 7C3 prcvement wil-l contact with the groundsurface at different angles, the traction portions of the tire chains 5and the end chains 6 contacting the said ground surface at a right anglewith respect to the longitudinal plane of the wheel or tire, and thecentral chain 7 will be slightly curved but will be brought into firmbiting engagement with the" tire, while-the intermediate ehai-nsS willcurve or arch themselves in their biting engagement with thegroundsurface, with the result that the ground surface being contactedat differentpoints or angles, the cross chains of the improvement willafford an ample traction for the wheel to permit of the same beingreadily extricated from sand, mud, declivities, rutsand the like.

The biting engagement of the end of the traction portions ofthetirechains, together with the biting" engagement of the central chain withthe tirewi'll prevent thelongitudinal movement of the improvement onsaid tire. Such movement also is prevented by the contacting engagementof the: fastening means with the opposite faces of the spokes of thewheel, as clearly indicated: by Figure 1 of the drawings. The snap-hooks22:a1 e employed for taking: up any sl 'ack. between the fasteners andthe tire chainsthe said snap hooks being designed to be snapped. againstthe links of either the ti're chains or the. side" chainsandtherebyprevent the contact of? the extended portions of the tire chainsthe mud guards of the vehicle;

I have in' the foregoing description set forth a satisfactoryembodimentof themprovement' as the same now appears to me, but in themanufacture of my" device I may make slight changes from the devicesherein set" forth. v'lherefore, I desireil? to b'e understood that I donot wish'to be restricted to the: precise details ofconstructionahereina recited and hold myself entitled: to make suchchan'ges therefromas fairly fall within the scope: of what I claim.

While preferably the cross-1 chains are: of" thesame length it isobvious-that I may employ links of different thicknesses and perhaps ofgreater durability than those disclosed by the drawings and also'I holdmyself entitled to. make other slight changes from the disclosure asfairly fall within the scope of what I claim.

Havingdescribed' the invention, I claim r In a mud chain for a vehiclewheel withmeans' for securing the chain thereto, said chain comprising,side chains, cross chains secured to the endsof the side chains,equi-distantly spaced" cross chains" having their ends secured to thesidechains between the cross chains first mentioned, the outermostchains of those second mentioned being of similar length, theintermediatecross chain beingof slightly greater length than theoutermost cross chains of those second mentioned; the

iio

- disposed upon epposite remaining cross chains being arranged in pairsof the same length but of a greater length than the other cross chains,and the pairs of said remaining cross chains being sides of the intermediate cross chain. In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

PETER SCHOLTUS.

